- ERAS Personal Statement Length: How to Say More with Less
The personal statement is one of the most crucial components of your ERAS application. It’s your chance to convey who you are beyond your grades, test scores, and CV. However, crafting a compelling narrative within the ERAS personal statement length limit can be challenging. Here, we’ll explore strategies to help you say more with less, ensuring your statement is impactful and memorable.
Understanding the ERAS Personal Statement Length
The Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) allows for a personal statement of up to 28,000 characters, including spaces. This translates to approximately one page, single-spaced, in a standard word processing program. While this may seem generous, fitting your entire story into such a limited space requires careful planning and concise writing. The ERAS personal statement length is a critical factor that you must navigate effectively to make a strong impression.
Why Length Matters
Program directors review countless personal statements, so brevity and clarity are essential. A well-crafted, concise personal statement demonstrates your ability to communicate effectively—an important skill for any physician. Moreover, exceeding the ERAS personal statement length limit or filling your statement with fluff can detract from the powerful points you want to make.
Strategies for Saying More with Less
- Start with a Strong Outline
Before you start writing, outline the main points you want to cover. These might include your motivation for pursuing medicine, significant experiences, skills and attributes you bring to the program, and your future goals. Having a clear structure in mind will help you stay focused and ensure you cover all essential points without unnecessary digressions. This planning is crucial, especially given the ERAS personal statement length constraints.
- Be Selective with Content
You likely have many experiences and achievements you could discuss, but not all of them will fit into a single personal statement. Prioritize those that are most relevant to the specialty you’re applying for and that best demonstrate your qualifications and personal growth. Quality over quantity is key—choose a few significant experiences and elaborate on them rather than listing many superficially. This approach helps you manage the ERAS personal statement length effectively.
- Use Clear and Concise Language
Avoid overly complex sentences and medical jargon. Your goal is to communicate your story in a way that’s easy to understand. Use straightforward language and get to the point quickly. Every word should serve a purpose; if a sentence doesn’t add value, consider cutting it. Being concise is essential to staying within the ERAS personal statement length limit.
- Show, Don’t Tell
One of the most effective ways to make a point succinctly is to show rather than tell. Instead of saying, “I am compassionate,” describe a specific instance where you demonstrated compassion. This approach not only saves space but also makes your statement more vivid and memorable. Using specific examples efficiently helps you make the most of the ERAS personal statement length.
- Use Active Voice
Active voice is more direct and vigorous than passive voice. For example, “I led a team” is stronger and more concise than “A team was led by me.” This small change can make your writing clearer and more engaging, which is crucial when dealing with the ERAS personal statement length constraints.
- Focus on Transitions
Smooth transitions between paragraphs and ideas make your statement easier to read and understand. Instead of jumping abruptly from one topic to another, use transitional phrases to guide the reader through your narrative. This cohesion can help you maintain a concise yet comprehensive statement within the ERAS personal statement length.
- Avoid Redundancies
Redundancies and repetitive phrases can bloat your statement unnecessarily. For example, saying “completely finished” or “each and every” adds unnecessary words . Be mindful of such redundancies and aim to be as precise as possible to stay within the ERAS personal statement length limit.
- Edit Ruthlessly
Editing is crucial. After writing your first draft, take a break and then return to it with fresh eyes. Cut any unnecessary words, sentences, or even paragraphs that don’t contribute significantly to your story. Consider asking a mentor, advisor, or colleague to review your statement and provide feedback. This rigorous editing process helps you refine your statement to fit the ERAS personal statement length.
- Highlight Key Qualities and Experiences
Identify the key qualities and experiences you want to emphasize and ensure they stand out. Use specific examples to illustrate these points and connect them directly to the skills and attributes that are important for the residency program you’re applying to. This focus is essential to making the most of the ERAS personal statement length.
- Keep the End Goal in Mind
Your personal statement should clearly convey why you are a good fit for the residency program and how you will contribute to and benefit from it. Keep this end goal in mind throughout your writing process to ensure your statement remains focused and relevant, fitting within the ERAS personal statement length.
Example: Before and After
To illustrate these strategies, let’s look at an example of a before and after transformation of a personal statement excerpt.
“I have always been interested in medicine. Since I was a child, I knew I wanted to become a doctor because I enjoy helping people. During my undergraduate studies, I volunteered at a local hospital. This experience taught me a lot about patient care and reinforced my desire to pursue a career in medicine. I am a compassionate and dedicated individual, and I believe these qualities will make me a good doctor.”
“My passion for medicine was ignited during my undergraduate studies when I volunteered at a local hospital. One memorable experience was comforting a nervous child before surgery, which taught me the importance of empathy in patient care. This reinforced my commitment to becoming a physician who combines medical expertise with compassion.”
- The after version is more concise and vivid.
- Specific experiences are used to illustrate qualities.
- Redundant phrases are eliminated.
- The language is more engaging and direct.
- The statement fits well within the ERAS personal statement length.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Clichés and Generalities : Avoid generic statements like “I want to help people.” Be specific about your motivations and experiences.
- Excessive Detail : While details are important, avoid getting bogged down in minutiae that don’t contribute to the overall narrative.
- Negativity : Focus on positive experiences and what you have learned from challenges, rather than dwelling on negative aspects.
- Overly Formal Language : While your tone should be professional, it should also be personal and reflective of your unique voice.
Final Thoughts
Writing a compelling ERAS personal statement within the length limit is a challenging but achievable task. By being selective with your content, using clear and concise language, and focusing on specific experiences, you can create a powerful narrative that resonates with residency program directors. Remember, your personal statement is an opportunity to showcase who you are beyond your academic achievements—make every word count and stay within the ERAS personal statement length.
Crafting a strong ERAS personal statement is about making a big impact with limited space. With thoughtful planning, precise language, and careful editing, you can convey your story compellingly and effectively. Embrace the challenge, and use these strategies to create a personal statement that truly reflects your journey and aspirations in medicine, all while adhering to the ERAS personal statement length.
Need help to get started? Explore ResidencyStatement.com for expert personal statement writing and editing services to help you craft a compelling and concise drafts. Start today and make your application stand out!
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The Residency Personal Statement (2024/2025): The Insider’s Guide (with Examples)
A physician and former residency program director explains how to write your residency personal statement to match in to your top-choice residency program in 2025.
Read example residency personal statements and suggested outlines., introduction.
We have been working with residency applicants who successfully match into the programs and specialities of choice for more than 15 years and a key part of that success, is writing a compelling residency personal statement.
Having worked with so many applicants, we know you will get differing advice depending on who you ask. The key to our applicants’ success is that we understand how to write a residency personal statement that has broad appeal and will impress all types of readers.
The residency personal statement allows residency program directors and associate directors the chance to get a sense of who you are and your commitment to your chosen specialty.
As a former program director who understands how residency personal statements are reviewed, what “stands out,” and, most importantly, what will earn you interview invitations, the information below will help you write a residency personal statement to match!
It is imperative to make sure you get the most accurate guidance possible with regards to your residency personal statement content and optimal residency personal statement length (up to one page).
Want more personalized suggestions? Sign up for a FREE residency personal statement consultation .
Table of Contents
Goals for Writing Your 2025 Residency Personal Statement
Above all else, your residency personal statement offers the opportunity to show your interest in your chosen specialty when applying to residency to illustrate you are a good fit.
The more details you offer about why you are interested in the specialty and how your med school rotations, accomplishments and experiences have reinforced this interest, the stronger your personal statement will be, the more it will appeal to selection committees and the better you will do in the match process.
I encourage applicants to offer as much “evidence” as possible to “show” rather than “tell” what qualities, characteristics and interests they have. “Telling” a reader, for example, that you are compassionate and hard working means nothing. Instead, you must “show” that you embody these qualities based on your experiences in health care and the patients for whom you have cared.
The residency personal statement also offers the opportunity to write about who you are as a person to convey some details about your background, influences, and interests outside of your given specialty.
The Importance of a Balanced Residency Personal Statement
The key when writing your residency personal statement is to ensure that it is well-balanced so it appeals to a large group of people who might read your ERAS residency application.
However, it is important to understand that every program director and faculty member has his or her own idea of what he would like to read in a personal statement. As an applicant, you must go into this process understanding that you cannot please everyone, or a specific program, and your personal statement should therefore have the broadest appeal possible.
For example, some program directors would rather hear about your personal interests and curiosities and get to know who you are rather than have you focus on the specialty in which you are interested.
At MedEdits, we suggest taking a “middle of the road” approach; include some details about who you are but also focus on the specialty itself. In this way, you will make more traditional reviewers who want to hear about your interest in the specialty happy while also satisfying those who would rather learn about you as a person.
Above all, be authentic and true to yourself when writing your statement. This always leads to the best results! Read on to learn more about how to write a winning personal statement.
About MedEdits
Getting into a residency has never been more competitive. Founded by a former associate program director, the experts at MedEdits will make your residency personal statement shine. We’ve worked with more than 5,000 students and 94% have been matched to one of their top-choice programs.
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Residency Personal Statement Outline & Structure
Residency applicants often do well when given outlines or templates to follow, so, we will offer that, but, it is important to realize that many applicants deviate from these rigid rules. One very typical outline that serves applicants quite well in the residency admissions process is:
- Compose a catchy introduction. Your intro can be related to your interest in the specialty to which you are applying, about a hobby or personal experience, or about your background. Regardless of the topic you choose, you want to tell a story and start with something that will interest your reader and engage him.
- The next two to four paragraphs comprise the body of your personal statement. We encourage applicants to write about any significant experiences they have had related to their desired specialty and/or future goals. This would include information about rotations, electives, and sub internships related to the specialty, volunteer and research experiences and even significant outside interests.
- Finally, you want to conclude your essay. In your conclusion, write about what you seek in a residency program, what you will bring to a residency program, and, if you have any idea of your future career goals, write about those as well. Your conclusion is also where you can tailor a personal statement to a specific geographic area of interest or type of program (rural, urban, community).
Residency Personal Statement Length & Residency Personal Statement Word Limit
The allowed ERAS residency personal statement length is 28,000 characters which equates to about five pages!
We have been hearing from more and more applicants that the personal statement should not exceed one page when typed in to the ERAS application . Because of this overwhelming trend, we are supporting this guidance unless you have extenuating circumstances that require your personal statement be longer.
Our recommendation is that your residency personal statement be a maximum of 5300 characters with spaces.
ERAS Residency Personal Statement Checklist
- Ensure your personal statement flows well
The best personal statements are easy to read, don’t make the reader think too much, and make your path and interests seem logical. Rarely does a personal statement have a theme. Also try to have each paragraph transition to the next seamlessly.
2. Your personal statement should be about you!
Your personal statement should be about you and no one else. Focus on your interests, your accomplishments and your path. This is your opportunity to be forthcoming about your achievements – by writing in detail about what you have done.
3. Be sure your personal statement clearly outlines your interest in the specialty.
Since the reader wants to be convinced of your understanding of, experience in, and curiosity about the specialty to which you are applying, be sure you highlight what you have done to explore your interest as well as your insights and observations about the specialty to show your understanding of it.
4. Make it human.
Again, your personal statement should be about you! The reader wants to know who you are, where you are from, what your interests are and who you are outside of medicine. Therefore, try to include those details about your background that are intriguing or important to you.
5. Express your interest in the specialty.
The reader fundamentally wants to know why you are pursuing the specialty. The more details you offer the more convincing you are about your commitment and your understanding of the specialty. Be sure to include details that might seem obvious. For example, in emergency medicine you must like acute care, but try to include more nuanced details about your interest, too. What aspects of the diagnoses and pathologies involved do you enjoy? What do you value about the actual work you will do? How do you feel about the patients for whom you will care?
6. The start and evolution of your interest.
Readers want to know how and when you became interested in your specialty. Was this before medical school? During medical school? What have you done to pursue and nurture your interest in the specialty?
7. What you have done to learn more about the specialty.
You should explain what you have done to pursue your interest. What rotations have you done or have planned? What research, scholarly work or community service activities have you pursued to further your interest?
8. Where you see yourself in the future – if you know!
Without going into too much detail, write about the type of setting in which you see yourself in the future. Do you hope to also participate in research, teaching, public health work or community outreach as a part of your career? What are your future goals? Since many programs typically train a certain type of physician, it is important that your goals are aligned with the programs to which you are applying.
9. What do you bring to the specialty?
You should try to identify what you can bring to the program and the specialty to which you are applying as a whole. For example, are you applying to family medicine and have a distinct interest in public health? Are you applying for internal medicine and do you have demonstrated expertise in information technology and hope to improve electronic medical records? Do you have extensive research or teaching experience, and do you hope to continue to pursue these interests in the future? Have you developed a commitment to global health, and do you hope to continue making contributions abroad? Programs have a societal obligation to select residents who will make valuable contributions in the future, so the more ambitions you have the more desirable a candidate you will be.
10. What type of program you hope to join?
Do you hope to be part of a community or university-based program? What are you seeking in a residency program? Programs are looking for residents who will be the right “fit” so offering an idea of what you are seeking in a program will help them determine if your values and goals mesh with those of the program.
11. Who you are outside of the hospital?
Try to bring in some personal elements about who you are. You can do this in a few ways. If you have any outside interests or accomplishments that complement your interest in your specialty, such as extracurricular work, global work, teaching or volunteer efforts, write about them in detail, and, in doing so, show the reader a different dimension of your personality. Or, consider opening your statement by writing about an experience related to your hobbies or outside interests. Write about this in the form of an introductory vignette. I suggest taking this nontraditional approach only if you are a talented writer and can somehow relate your outside interest to the specialty you are pursuing, however. An interest in the arts can lend itself to dermatology, plastic surgery or ophthalmology, for example. Or, an interest in technology could relate to radiology .
12. Any personal challenges?
Also explain any obstacles you have overcome: Were you the first in your family to graduate from college? Were you an immigrant? Did you have limited financial resources and work through college? Many applicants tend to shy away from the very things that make them impressive because they are afraid of appearing to be looking for sympathy. As long as you explain how you have overcome adversity in a positive or creative way, your experience will be viewed as the tremendous accomplishment that it is. The personal statement should explain any unusual or distinctive aspects of your background.
Common ERAS Residency Personal Statement Mistakes
Do not tell your entire life story or write a statement focused on your childhood or undergraduate career.
Do not write about why you wanted to be a doctor. This is old news. From the reviewers perspective, you already are a doctor!
Do not write a personal statement focused on one hobby or begin with your birth. Some background information might be useful if it offers context to your choices and path, but your residency personal statement should be focused on the present and what you have done to pursue your interest in the specialty to which you are applying.
Do not preach. The reader understands what it means to practice his specialty and does not need you to tell him. Don’t write, for example: Internal medicine requires that a physician be knowledgeable, kind and compassionate. The reader wants to know about you!
Do not put down other specialties. You don’t need to convince anyone of your interest by writing something negative about other specialties. Doing so just makes you look bad. If you switched residencies or interests, you can explain what else you were seeking and what you found in the specialty of your choice that interests you.
Do not embellish. Program directors are pretty good at sniffing out inconsistencies and dishonesty. Always tell the truth and be honest and authentic.
Do not plagiarize. While this seems obvious to most people, every year people copy personal statements they find online or hire companies that use stock phrases and statement to compose statements for applicants. Don’t do it!
Do not write about sensitive topics. Even if you were in a relationship that ended and resulted in a poor USMLE score , this is not a topic for a personal statement. In general, it is best to avoid discussing relationships, politics, ethical issues and religion.
Do not boast. Any hint of arrogance or self-righteousness may result in getting rejected. There is a fine line between confidence and self promotion. Some people make the mistake of over-selling themselves or writing about all of their fantastic qualities and characteristics. Rarely do readers view such personal statements favorably.
Do not write an overly creative piece. A residency personal statement should be professional. This work is equivalent to a job application. Don’t get too creative; stay focused.
Writing ERAS Residency Personal Statements For Multiple Specialties
An increasing number of applicants are applying to more than one specialty in medicine especially if the first choice specialty is very competitive. If you are applying to more than one specialty, even if there is disciplinary overlap between the two (for example family medicine and pediatrics), we advise you write a distinct specialty for each. Remember that a physician who practices the specialty you hope to join will most likely be reviewing your statement. He or she will definitely be able to determine if the personal statement illustrates a true understanding of the specialty. If you try to recycle an entire personal statement or parts of a personal statement for two specialties, there is a high likelihood the personal statement will communicate that you aren’t sincerely interested in that specialty or that you don’t really understand what the specialty is about.
Writing About Red Flags in your ERAS Personal Statement
The personal statement is also the place to explain any red flags in your application, such as gaps in time or a leave of absence. When addressing any red flags, explain what happened succinctly. Be honest, don’t make excuses, and don’t dwell on the topic. Whenever possible, write about how you have matured or grown from the adversity or what you may have learned and how this benefits you.
If you have left a program or had a break in your medical education, you will also have the chance to explain this in your ERAS application . You should also write about this topic in your personal statement only if you have more to explain, however.
If you have failed a Step exam or one course in medical school, this likely isn’t something to address in the personal statement. However, you should be prepared to discuss any failure during an interview. By the same token, it is best not to address one low grade or poor attending evaluation in your statement.
Have you taken a circuitous path to medicine? If so you might address why you made these choices and what you found so interesting about medicine that was lacking in your former career.
Residency Personal Statement Example
Below are two great examples of residency personal statements that earned the applicants who wrote them numerous interviews and first choice matches. As you will see, these two applicants took very different approaches when writing the personal statement yet wrote equally persuasive and “successful” personal statements.
Residency Personal Statement Example, Analysis, and Outline: The Traditional Approach
Suggested outline:.
- Introduction: Catchy Story
- Paragraph 2: Background Information and how Interest Started
- Paragraph 3: Write about what you did to explore your interest
- Paragraph 4: Second paragraph about your experiences related to your specialty
- Conclusion: Wrap it up. Write something about your future goals.
Below is an example of the traditional approach:
Why It’s Great
This is a great personal statement because it clearly conveys the applicant’s interest in, and understanding of, obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) and what the applicant has done to pursue that interest. Not only does this applicant have a long-standing interest in OB/GYN, but, she conveys that she has experienced the specialty in different settings and understands the diverse nature of the specialty. She also includes information about her hobbies and interests and writes about her exploration of OB/GYN outside of the clinical arena. An added bonus is that the applicant writes well and uses descriptive language making her statement interesting and fun to read.
Residency Personal Statement Example, Analysis, and Outline: The Outside Interests Approach
Many mentors advise applicants to tell the reader something about them that is unrelated to medicine or the specialty they are pursuing. This is a fine idea, but be sure your personal statement also includes some details about your interest in your specialty if you decide to move in this direction.
Suggested Outline:
- Introduction: Write a Catchy Introduction. Be creative! Think outside the box.
- Paragraph 2:Elaborate on your introduction offering more details
- Paragraph 3: Write about your specialty choice and what appeals to you.
- Paragraph 4: Write more about your explorations in medical school.
- Concluding paragraph(s): Write about your future goals, the type of program you hope to join and consider looping back to your introduction.
The landscape before me was lush and magical. We had been hiking for hours and had found a great spot to set up camp. As I was unloading my backpack and helping to pitch the tent, I saw a scene I knew I had to capture. I quickly grabbed my carefully packed Leica before the magnificent sunset disappeared. Trying to get the perfect exposure, I somehow managed to capture this image so accurately that it reflected the beauty of what was before us high in the mountains of Utah, so far away from the hustle and bustle of New York City where we attended medical school.
This is a really intriguing personal statement because the author writes about his outside interests in a compelling way that makes him instinctively likable. He then goes on to explain what he enjoys about surgery and what he has done to pursue that interest. As you can see, this applicant writes less about his specialty (surgery) than the applicant in statement #1 did, but, he still convinces the reader of his understanding of, and commitment to, surgery. In this statement, the reader gains a much broader understanding of who the applicant is as a person and what he likes to do in his free time.
Final Thoughts
Writing your residency personal statement should be about telling your story in your own voice and style. You want to highlight your interest in the specialty for which you are applying while also conveying some ideas about who you are as a person to keep your reader engaged in learning about you as a person.
Residency Personal Statement Consulting Services
MedEdits Medical Admissions offers comprehensive guidance and document review services for residency applicants to every specialty in medicine. With more than twenty years of experience in residency admissions and founded by a former residency admissions officer and physician, MedEdits understands what program directors want to read and can help you decide what aspects of your background to focus on in your residency personal statement to earn the most interviews possible.
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JESSICA FREEDMAN, M.D. , a former medical school and residency admissions officer at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai , is the founder and chair of MedEdits Medical Admissions and author of three top-selling books about the medical admissions process that you can find on Amazon .
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How to Make a Statement with Your ERAS Personal Statement
- June 29, 2023
- Reviewed by: Amy Rontal, MD
Dr. Leila Javidi, Taylor Purvis, and Dr. Brian Radvansky contributed to this article.
Starting your residency application can feel like an overwhelming task, especially when it comes to writing your ERAS personal statement. It’s not clear why essays of this nature are so intimidating—maybe it’s because not all medical students are well-versed in language arts, many of us dislike writing, or maybe just the thought of putting “who you are” onto paper brings to the surface some uncomfortable feelings of self-awareness (whoa—this just got intense!).
This is a joke or course, but to be honest, sometimes when we sit down to write our ERAS personal statement we immediately think things like, “I’m not that interesting,” or “I haven’t done anything cool in life, I’ve spent most of my time in school thus far.” And that is completely normal. The majority of us haven’t had those pivotal moments in life that shake the ground beneath us and form a new foundation for who we are, and that’s OK!
Your ERAS personal statement isn’t intended to be a best-selling memoir. It’s intended to add another dimension to the otherwise black-and-white application full of scores and grades. It is an opportunity to show program directors your personality, what motivates you, and what you’re looking for in a residency program.
While you’ve probably heard all of this before, we bet you have more specific questions about how to tackle the ERAS personal statement. All of us sure did! So, without further ado, h ere are answers to the 12 most important questions about medical residency personal statements.
12 Frequently-Asked Questions About the ERAS Personal Statement
1. How big of a deal is my ERAS personal statement to program directors?
According to the 2020 NRMP program director survey , 78% of program directors cite the ERAS personal statement as an important factor in deciding which candidates to interview, making it the fourth-highest ranked factor behind USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2, and letters of recommendation. So, it’s pretty important in the grand scheme of your application!
Now, from experience in talking to different program directors and mentors, it’s clear that the most important thing is that your ERAS personal statement is well organized, well written, with proper grammar, no red flags, and that it’s only one page single-spaced. The standard ERAS personal statement length is typically 500-800 words (roughly four paragraphs).
A personal statement typically isn’t the “maker” of your residency application—however, it can be a deal “breaker” if it doesn’t have those attributes. That said, if you have a memorable, well-written personal statement, program directors will mention it, and it will make you stand out as an applicant. If they are on the fence about whether or not to interview you, a personal statement could potentially be the deciding factor. So, it’s pretty important!
2. What are things I should include in my ERAS personal statement?
A good ERAS personal statement should include the following:
A catchy introduction to grab the reader
There are different ways to go about doing this, but if you’re stuck, an effective way to grab the reader’s attention is to open with a patient vignette. An interesting case is sure to pique the curiosity of your reader and keep them engaged as they read. Preventing boredom is something to strive for, as your application is one of perhaps hundreds that they are reading.
Ultimately, though, remember this is a personal statement. After you reveal the diagnosis or outcome of the patient vignette, you need to let the reader know what the case meant to you! The point of relating the vignette is to reveal something about yourself, not just present an interesting story about a patient.
An overview of your desirable qualities
When letting the reader know what your positive qualities are, it’s important to remember a basic rule of good writing: SHOW, don’t tell. For example, instead of saying you are compassionate, describe a story from your life that demonstrates your compassion.
Highlights from your life experience
This includes jobs, extracurricular activities, and hobbies that would help you to be an ideal candidate for whichever residency you are applying to. Pro tip: DON’T REGURGITATE YOUR CV. This is your opportunity to tell people things that aren’t on your CV. Do you play chess in the park every Saturday, or have you traveled to some amazing places? Tell us about it!
You shouldn’t rehash your CV in your personal statement, but it is a great place to elaborate on activities listed on your CV. It can be used to explain why those activities are so important to you, how they have helped you grow as a person, and other things that don’t often shine through on the CV itself.
Proof of why you should be accepted
The most important part of your statement is providing proof of why you should be accepted. Describe your strengths, but do not talk about things too generally. You should be able to back up everything you say. Give details and examples. Which doctors have you shadowed? What kind of research have you been involved in, and where was it published? Don’t just mention that you have volunteered, say the names of places you were at and what you were doing.
Why you are interested in your specialty
This doesn’t have to be a profound story, but it should be the truth!
What you are looking for in a residency program
Is a strong procedural curriculum important to you? Is the culture of the program more important? Try to mention things you know your programs of choice embody.
Address any red flags on your application
Did you do poorly on Step 1? Did you take a leave of absence for a long time? Best to just come out and talk about it without being defensive. Show how you have grown from the experience, rather than apologizing for it!
A cohesive closing statement
Sometimes the first and the last sentence of the statement are the hardest to come up with, but it’s worth your time to make it tidy, even if it isn’t profound.
3. What are things I shouldn’t include in my ERAS personal statement?
Controversial topics.
Stay away from extreme religious or political statements. It doesn’t mean you can’t say you are an active member of church, but don’t use this as an opportunity to discuss whether or not you are pro-choice. You never know who is going to be reading this, and anything too polarizing can be off-putting for some readers.
Feelings of bitterness or negativity
Leave out any traces of bitterness, defensiveness, or anger about anything that has happened in your life. Everything must have a positive spin.
Too much self-praise or too much modesty
Avoid talking about yourself in a glorifying manner, but don’t go too far the other way and come off as too modest.
Too many qualifiers
You don’t want to go overboard with the qualifiers, which are words such as “really,” “quite,” “very,” etc. In fact, in many cases, it’s better not to use them at all.
“Flowery” language you wouldn’t use in real life
It’s a personal statement, not a creative writing assignment. Keep the language in your statement simple. You’re not going to score any points by using unnecessarily fancy words. Your goal is clear communication.
Also, don’t try to sound like a doctor. This is just another way of trying to impress the reader. You want the reader to like you based on the way you write, not be turned off because you are trying to impress them.
“Try to avoid using a lot of jargon and abbreviations,” advises Mary Dundas, educator at Academized.
Exaggerations
Avoid talking hyperbolically about how passionate you are. As noted earlier, it’s better to show than tell so give examples of things you have done. Above all, keep the writing in your statement professional.
If you avoid these common mistakes, you’ll be way ahead of most applicants!
4. How can I make my ERAS personal statement unique?
As evidenced by The Voice and American Idol , it is everyone’s impulse to divulge their “sob story” to help them stand out and garner sympathy from the audience. While it’s important to include stories that helped shape you as a person, it is very transparent and cliché to talk about that person you know who was struck by a medical tragedy, and how ever since you vowed to “save people.”
The best way to make your statement unique is to allow your personality to shine through. Use your words, your humor, and your depth to tell your story. Find a way to show yourself to your reader, and if you do this, your essay will be unique!
5. Should I have more than one ERAS personal statement to upload?
In short, absolutely have multiple personal statements to upload. Especially if you are applying to more than one specialty, it’s essential that you have several versions of your personal statement.
That doesn’t mean you have to write a whole new one, you just have to tailor it to fit that specialty. If you’re applying for a preliminary year, tailor your personal statement to explain how important you feel a solid foundation in medicine is for dermatology (or whichever specialty you are applying to) and what you’re looking for in a preliminary year.
Furthermore, I found that for the programs I really wanted to interview with, I would upload a tailored personal statement for that program saying something like, “I am seeking a family medicine residency position with ABC University program because of their dedication to XYZ.” Simply name-dropping their institution and noting the strength of their program demonstrates your attention to detail and interest in their institution. Even if you are an amazing applicant, if a program doesn’t feel you are interested in their specific program, they won’t interview you. It’s best to make sure you give those out-of-state programs some extra attention so they know you are willing to relocate for them!
Lastly, you should know that you can upload as many versions of your personal statement as you like onto ERAS, but be especially careful when uploading and make sure you apply the correct personal statement to each program! Triple-check your work! Pro Tip: Use your file names to help you stay organized. Pick a format and stick with it, such as “PS-JohnsHopkins,” “USCF-PS,” etc.
6. When should I start writing my ERAS personal statement?
The sooner the better, people. Get cracking now! You can even begin to think of ideas during your third year as you develop your interests in specific specialties. As ideas come to you, jot them into your phone so you don’t forget!
One of the best ways to begin writing your personal statement is to go over some questions about yourself. Ask yourself, who are you and what drives you forward? Think about the kinds of things that interest you and why you developed those interests. Maybe consider some mistakes you have made, how you learned from them, and how they have changed you. Or ask yourself, how do your interests and personality contribute to the goals you have set?
Think about those kinds of questions and write down the answers. Reflect on them, put them away, and come back to them. Then, use them to form an outline—this will help you figure out all your points and what you want to say before you start writing.
If you still feel like you just don’t know how to get started, give the five-point essay format a shot and see if it works for you. In short, you begin with a paragraph that is about four or five sentences long. The goal of this first paragraph is to grab a reader’s attention. Use the next three or four body paragraphs to talk about yourself. Try and have one of them focus on your clinical understanding, while another talks about service. Then end with a solid conclusion paragraph that mirrors your introduction, summarizes who you are, and ends by looking toward the future.
7. Should I ask for any help with my ERAS personal statement?
Yes. Yes. A thousand times, YES! Absolutely ask for feedback on your personal statement. After getting your draft finished, show it to whoever will look at it—however, please remember to take everyone’s advice with a grain of salt and to strongly consider the source. It is absolutely essential to have your personal statement reviewed by an objective third party to ensure that the message you are trying to communicate is loud and clear. This means that you shouldn’t give it to a friend or family member who is going to placate you with a useless, “Yeah, looks great!”
Find a mentor, advisor, chief resident or attending, someone who is accustomed to reading ERAS personal statements, and get feedback from them. You can be certain that going through this step will only make your personal statement better. If you take their advice and don’t like how things are panning out, you can always revert back to an older draft.
But in just about every case, another set of eyes to give you big-picture feedback on what you’ve written will improve your piece. Do this early in the process, when you have gotten a simple draft together, so that you don’t present someone with an idea that you are married to, only to find out that it doesn’t come through clearly.
Be sure to ask other people what they think of your draft, but be careful about asking other students for help. Sometimes they get weird, and try to give you advice about making your statement more like theirs because they want to feel justified in their own efforts.
Finally, it should be mentioned that there are services out there that will “write your personal statement” for you. Aside from the obvious reasons why not to do this, you have to be really careful. Those services don’t know you, don’t know your voice, and oftentimes have very generic ways of putting these statements together. Using a service to help polish your statement, though, is A-OK. Some you may find useful in that regard are ViaWriting , Writing Populist , StateofWriting , and SimpleGrad .
Lastly, you may consider working with a residency counselor who can help set your application apart with insider advice and ensure you optimize all elements of the residency application process. Our residency consultants are residents and attendings who have successfully guided hundreds of students from residency applications through the Match!
Typical residency consulting work consists of:
Not sure if a residency consultant is the right fit for you? Take this quiz to see if you would benefit from some extra guidance during the residency application process!
8. Where can I find examples of ERAS personal statements to inspire me?
Every good writer learned how to write by reading the works of other people. This includes personal statements! Very often your career offices from your undergraduate studies will have examples of personal statements that can serve as inspiration for your own masterpiece. You can also ask older classmates and recent graduates if they would feel comfortable sharing their personal statements with you.
Remember, too, that inspiration can come from nontraditional sources. Try reading poetry or a novel before sitting down to write your statement. You might be surprised by how it helps to get your creative juices flowing!
9. Is it better to cover all of my experiences, or focus on a few in particular?
It’s better to focus on several key experiences rather than provide a broad overview of your life up to the present time. Your resume will fill in any gaps for your reader. The point of the personal statement is to spend a few paragraphs reflecting on one or two themes that define who you are as a person. Stay focused, and go deep!
10. How much should I share about my career goals in my ERAS personal statement?
Remember, the majority of training programs you will be applying to are academic medical centers. For those programs in particular, make sure to emphasize why an academic environment is a good fit for you. This does not have to mean research! Perhaps you like the idea of becoming a clinician educator and want to be at XYZ program for the opportunity to teach medical students.
Likewise, if you are applying to a program at a community hospital, make sure to reflect on how your career goals are suited for that environment. Maybe private practice is on your radar, or you want to practice in a hospital that is more close-knit than a large academic center.
Whatever the case, try to make your stated career goals align with the orientation of the program you’re applying to. In reality, you may have no idea what direction you want your career to go in. But for a personal statement, try to commit to one general theme if possible.
11. What about my personal statements for preliminary or transitional year programs?
For applicants who are also applying to preliminary or transitional year programs, it can seem daunting to tailor your personal statement to a position that isn’t part of your ultimate specialty. But don’t worry—preliminary and transitional year programs still want to know who you are as a person and why you’re interested in anesthesiology, dermatology, or whatever advanced specialty you’re aiming for. You don’t need to change your personal statement as much as you may think!
The goal of a personal statement for these one-year programs is not to convince the reader that you suddenly love internal medicine despite going into radiology. The reader knows this is a temporary stopping place for you. Instead, emphasize the traits that make you YOU and will enhance their hospital!
12. What if I’m interested in a non-traditional path after residency?
Some of you may be thinking of alternative career paths after residency such as consulting or pharmaceutical work. It’s probably best to leave those specific goals out of your ERAS personal statement and allow readers to assume that you want to continue in clinical medicine after graduating from residency. You might want to instead phrase it as something you want to be incorporated into your clinical career, but not something you would leave medicine for, even if that’s what you have in mind!
Remember, you are under no obligation to share your every thought and desire in a personal statement! These statements are being read by reviewers who dedicated their lives to education and clinical medicine, so keep that in mind.
Further Reading
Keep these tips in mind as you write your ERAS personal statement, and you’ll be way ahead of the other applicants. If you start to get stressed out, remember, you have an amazing story to tell, and we are here to help tease that story out from the confines of your brain! For more help, reach out to one of our residency advisors .
Looking for more help during the residency application process? We’ve got you covered with more (free!) content written by Blueprint tutors:
- How to Get Standout Letters of Recommendation for Your Residency Application
- How to Maximize Your Chances of Matching With Your Dream Residency
- What’s It Like Working With a Medical Residency Consultant?
- Residency Interview Tips & Tricks: The Ultimate Guide
- Dual Applying for Residency: Is It Right For Me?
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Residency Application Personal Statement Guide
- By Med School Insiders
- July 4, 2022
- Medical Student
- Personal Statement , Residency Application
The residency application personal statement is an opportunity to detail your professional development over the course of medical school. Why do you want to join your chosen specialty? Why are you qualified to do so? What will you contribute to the program?
Continue reading our residency application personal statement guide for detailed advice on how to craft your personal statement. We’ll also share residency personal statement examples and common mistakes to avoid.
The ERAS Personal Statement
The majority of your residency application focuses on your scores and grades, and this doesn’t shed much light on who you are as a person. If there is anything you feel is underrepresented in the rest of your residency application, your personal statement is the place to highlight it. This is your chance to tell your story the way you see it.
Do not enter this process believing all you need to do is rewrite your medical school personal statement from a few years ago. While they are both technically personal statements, they are very different. When you wrote your medical school personal statement, you were a wide-eyed premed. But residency programs aren’t looking for medical students—they’re looking for young professionals who have earned their doctorate, deepened their dedication to medicine, and immensely improved their medical knowledge.
The success of your personal statement depends on your ability to effectively communicate these changes. Keep the focus of your residency personal statement on your professional development and how your experiences in medical school have crystalized your desire to pursue your chosen specialty.
Why is that specialty the one for you? What unique experiences, skills, and qualities can you contribute to the program? Speak passionately about what you hope to accomplish. Be confident yet humble about what you have achieved so far.
Remember, outside of residency interviews, this is your only chance to share your perspective and provide context to your accomplishments. Why you ? What’s your story?
ERAS Personal Statement Length
The residency personal statement length technically allows for 28,000 characters, but you do not need to utilize this entire space. We recommend keeping your residency personal statement to one typed page, which is anywhere from 500-800 words, depending on your writing.
Don’t try to fill the space to create a longer essay if you’re not actually adding anything relevant or new to your personal statement. Remember, you want to keep your audience’s attention and engage each member of the admissions committee. Being overly long-winded or repeating what they already know is a surefire way to bore committee members.
One page is the standard length for residency personal statements. Be clear and concise with your language.
How to Craft a Personal Statement for Residency
1 | Illustrate Your Growth And Maturity
While residencies are educational, they’re quite a bit different from medical school. Residencies provide on-the-job training for people to acquire their medical license so that they can become a practicing physician. In order to be accepted into residency, your application needs to demonstrate that you are qualified.
Your residency personal statement must reflect your vastly deepened knowledge of and dedication to medicine. You are not the same innocuous premed you were when you wrote your medical school personal statement all those years ago. You are now a young professional with a doctorate, and this must be made abundantly clear to the residency program.
How have you developed professionally? Which aspects of your medical education have meant the most to you? Where have you made the greatest impact, where do you most want to make an impact in the future, and what about your experiences have made it clear to you why you belong in your chosen specialty?
Back up your ambitions with concrete, anecdotal examples of your accomplishments. Residency programs don’t care what you say you can do—they want the proof. Stay humble, but be confident about all you have achieved so far.
2 | Develop a Narrative Across Your Application
Your residency personal statement does not exist in isolation. It’s one aspect of your entire residency application, and that means it must work alongside all of the other components.
Do not simply regurgitate or rehash aspects of your CV or extracurriculars. The personal statement is an opportunity to expand and elaborate on aspects of your life, experience, skills, and assets that are not otherwise noted in your application. Don’t look at the personal statement as one more task to complete, but rather an opportunity to help decision makers see who you really are and why you would make an ideal residency candidate.
Use the personal statement to continue unraveling your personal narrative. This aspect of your application should work hand-in-hand with everything else to establish a clear and cohesive narrative of who you are and why you’re qualified.
Learn more: How to Develop a Cohesive Narrative Across Applications .
3 | Keep Your Word Count Down
You may technically have 28,000 characters, but that is far, far from what you should aim for. The standard length of a residency personal statement is one page in ERAS, which equals anywhere from 500-800 words.
Challenge yourself to be as clear and concise as possible. Show restraint and get your points across clearly and effectively in a short amount of space. Remember, you’re trying to engage your reader and entice admissions committee members. You don’t in any way want to bore them or risk that they don’t finish your personal statement due to its length.
If the first draft of your personal statement is longer than one page, continue editing and revising it until you’ve pared it down.
What aspects are superfluous? What words are not serving a clear purpose? How can you convey the same message in a shorter amount of space? Are there any areas (besides the conclusion) where you repeat yourself?
Utilize clear and direct language. Long sentences written with flowery language you got out of a thesaurus will not impress residency admissions committees.
4 | Start Early And Give Yourself Time
Starting early will give you the time you need to brainstorm, outline, write, revise, and edit your personal statement. Even though you’ve written a personal statement before, the residency personal statement is a different beast entirely, and it will require plenty of your time and attention.
Start thinking about your personal statement at the beginning of the year, many months before application season begins. Start by brainstorming ideas and reflecting on your time in medical school. What have you learned? How have you changed? What values do you continue to hold? Why were you drawn to a specific specialty?
Keep a journal or online document where you can continue to add your ideas and thoughts for your residency personal statement. By late spring or early summer, you should be outlining and writing a first draft of your personal statement.
This timeline will give you a few months to continue to revise and edit your personal statement.
View our breakdown of what you should prepare and work on each month leading up to residency: Residency Application Timeline and Month-by-Month Schedule .
5 | Take Time Revising and Invest in Professional Editing
Remember to allocate adequate time to the feedback and editing process. Spell checking tools are okay to start with, but remember these tools are only bots, and they will not be able to catch all mistakes or contextual issues.
Review your essay many times over yourself and gather feedback from qualified friends, family, acquaintances, or by hiring a reputable editing service. Whether or not you need to hire a service depends on if you know editors with adcom experience or who are intimately familiar with the residency admission process. For best results, look for an editing service that utilizes doctors with real admissions committee experience.
Learn more: How to Choose the Best Medical School Admissions Consultant .
Example of Residency Personal Statements
Utilize examples of successful residency personal statements to get a better idea of what admissions committees are looking for. It’s important that you use these examples to strengthen your knowledge of what’s expected, not to guide your own topic. Your own personal statement will be completely unique to your medical school journey, your specialty preferences, and what makes you an ideal candidate.
View our database of Residency Personal Statement Samples from real students who successfully matched into residency.
These sample personal statements are for reference purposes only and should absolutely not be used to copy or plagiarize in any capacity. Remember that plagiarism detection software is used when evaluating personal statements.
If you still feel stuck after reading residency personal statement examples, try completing a variety of prompts to get your ideas flowing. For example:
- What is your greatest strength, and how can that strength be applied to your residency?
- What major failures or setbacks did you encounter during medical school, and what did you learn from those experiences?
- When did you first know you wanted to become a doctor?
- What values are the most important to you?
- What do you believe is the most important trait to have as a doctor?
Utilize our 25 Medical School Personal Statement Prompts to Spark Ideas .
Residency Application Personal Statement Mistakes to Avoid
Common pitfalls are common for a reason. Admissions committees see these mistakes time and time again, no matter how many times medical students are warned. These common mistakes come into play when students rush their personal statement and don’t put adequate time into receiving feedback and acting on that feedback.
Avoid the following common residency personal statement mistakes.
- Don’t treat your residency personal statement like your medical school application.
- Don’t miss spelling or grammar errors in your essay. Ensure you have plenty of time for revisions and editing.
- Don’t list your accomplishments or rehash your CV and extracurriculars.
- Don’t use a thesaurus to come up with larger, more complicated words.
- Don’t overuse the word I. Doing so makes you more likely to state your accomplishments instead of telling a story.
- Don’t state the obvious or use clichés, such as your passion for science or wanting to help people.
- Don’t ignore the feedback you receive from experienced editors or editing services.
- Don’t speak negatively about another student, physician, or healthcare professional.
- Don’t lie or make up stories. You may be asked about anything in your personal statement during interviews.
- Don’t discuss anything in your personal statement that you won’t feel comfortable speaking about during residency interviews.
- Don’t plead for an interview or opportunity.
- Don’t procrastinate on your personal statement. You should be thinking about it months before your application is due.
- Don’t submit your personal statement before gathering feedback from multiple, reliable sources.
- Don’t use a personal statement editing service that does not utilize real doctors with admissions committee experience.
Residency Application Personal Statement Editing
Med School Insiders can help you prepare a stand out residency application that will help you match into your ideal program. We offer a number of Residency Admissions Consulting Services tailored to your needs, including comprehensive personal statement editing .
Our residency personal statement editing services include careful analysis of content and tone in addition to insights on how to improve your essay to impress residency program admissions committees. Your essay will be edited by a real doctor with admissions committee experience who knows the residency program admissions process inside and out.
For more strategies as well as the latest medical school and industry news, follow the Med School Insiders blog , which has hundreds of resources, guides, and personal stories, including a detailed guide on the residency application process. Read our ERAS Residency Application Guide , which is updated each application cycle.
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- Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
- TCOM Office of Medical Student Success
Writing Your Personal Statement for Residency
Tips to convey “ why you for residency specialty”, use your personal statement to introduce yourself to your interviewer..
- Include topics that help the interview go smoothly.
- Be sincere and help the interviewer know what’s important to you.
- Include only the information that you want to discuss.
Write a focused essay, four or five paragraphs in length, that covers the basics.
- The first paragrap h could introduce the reader to you and could focus on what led you to a career in medicine, more importantly your specialty. The tone of the first paragraph sets the tone for the rest of your personal statement.
- The second paragraph should let the reader know how you arrived at your choice of the specialty. (Personal experiences from rotations, leadership activities, work, volunteer, community service, studying abroad, background and/or life/ family experiences).
- The third/fourth paragraphs should confirm why you think this choice is right for you AND why you are right for the specialty. This is an opportunity further distinguish yourself.
- The close/final paragraph could inform the reader what you see as your long-term goals and/or how you see yourself in this specialty. Also, avoid spending too much content on “ What I want/seek/am interested in from a residency program …” The focus should be more on why they should choose you over other candidates
Questions to ask when approaching your Personal Statement:
- What are the reasons for choosing the specialty?
- What are your key attributes?
- What contributions can I make to the specialty and the residency program?
- What are your career plans and how will your background/additional education contribute to the field?
- What makes me unique enough to stand out among other candidates?
Your goal should be to write a well-crafted statement that is both original in its presentation and grammatically correct. Articulate your personal drive in as eloquent language as you can provide. The writing should flow. No one expects you to be a novelist. The most important thing is to write a concise, clear statement about why you?
Don’t spend a lot of time providing information about you that programs will generally assume to be true for most competent medical students; “I want to help people”, “I love medicine”, “I want to match into a residency program where I can learn”
If you explain your reasons for entering the field of medicine, do so to inform the reader of points beyond the career choice. Avoid spending too much time on “Why I Wanted to Go into Medicine.” How did you arrive at your specialty choice and what experiences support how you arrived at the specialty choice?
Support your strengths and skillset with examples . Most medical student personal statement list similar strengths, “hard worker/will work hard”, “good communication skills”, “relate to/interact with patients” – so if you provide strengths that are common among medical students or even unique to you, it will be important to provide evidence to support your claims, directing programs to come to their own conclusion about your strength.
I f you repeat accomplishments already listed on your CV , they should be relevant to your personal/professional growth. You want the emphasis to encourage the reader to bring this up in the interview.
Use your own words rather than rely on quotes; your own thoughts are more powerful. If you can make it work, great, but don’t dwell on quotes. With only 800 words or less…it is favorable to make them all your own.
Do NOT plagiarize your personal statement.
Length ; Since one page in length in a Word Doc is not the same as what one page will equal one page in ERAS for personal statement formatting, the key is stick to 750-850 words for your ERAS/residency application personal statement. One page in ERAS equals nearly 1,200 words, however most programs preferences for a typical personal statements in terms of Word Count will be within range of 650-850 – this will be acceptable for most residency programs.
Need a review of your personal statement?
- Dr. Peter Mosley , TCOM Assistant Director-Career Development, will provide thorough feedback through an evaluation form that breaks down your entire personal statement including: content, grammar, structure, flow and overall impact. You can email your personal statement to [email protected] to request a review.
- The Career Center can also review personal statements and Center for Academic Performance (CAP) office can provide feedback mostly on grammar and structure.
This page was last modified on September 5, 2024
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I've also seen some recommend that if it goes over 1 page, limit it to a few lines. Even without changing formatting, my longest one, which will only go to this program goes over 1 page by a short paragraph. It wouldn't take longer than a minute to read. 2.
700 words-ish. It's like 80% of a page on word at size 11. 1. Share. chambered-nautilus. • 7 yr. ago. Around 675 words. My advisor told me to try for no more than 700. I feel like as long as its one page on ERAS you're probably fine though.
Somehow I've trimmed off nearly 150 words and it still isn't enough. I'm struggling to keep it coherent. Same man, I'm at 666 words, 4378 characters in microsoft word, calibri 11pt font single spaced. Pasting it into ERAS I'm 3 lines over the 1 page limit. Might just let it rip. Everywhere I look says 750 words, but mine is less than that and ...
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you. My personal statement is 594 words on Word. Which is well less than 1 page. I copy/paste this into textedit and then into ERAS and then when I click "Preview" the statement is 2 pages.
Try transcribing directly into the ERAS box. That is the best way to truly gauge the length. Aug 11, 2022. #5. So I tried directly transcribing my essay and it turns out that it doesn't make a difference. My final version, which just barely fits onto 1 page in ERAS, is 570 words split into 6 paragraphs. Paragraph breaks eat up a lot of space.
852. Jun 24, 2020. #6. There is no personal statement I've ever read that was *that* good that it had to be longer than one page. It's a personal statement, not a Dickens write-alike attempt. Remove adverbs and adjectives. Remove any "purple prose" about helping people. If you've dedicated a whole paragraph to developing a simile or ...
Reddit iOS Reddit Android Reddit Premium About Reddit Advertise Blog Careers Press. ... Embed Go to medicalschool r/medicalschool • by premed4 [Residency] My personal statement is on one page but ERAS adds a second blank page after . I've already cut out several lines of text and I'm still running into the same issue. ... More posts you may like.
Understanding the ERAS Personal Statement Length. The Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) allows for a personal statement of up to 28,000 characters, including spaces. This translates to approximately one page, single-spaced, in a standard word processing program. While this may seem generous, fitting your entire story into such a ...
If the personal statement is much longer than a page, it invariably gets less interesting as it goes along. ... Reddit Pinterest Tumblr WhatsApp E-mail Share Link. Next unread thread Similar threads. L. ERAS Personal Statement 1-Page Rule. lakeofavalon; Sep 13, 2021; Replies 2 Views 2K. Sep 17, 2021. GoSpursGo. Can Programs See That a Personal ...
The personal statement is limited to 28,000 characters, which include letters, numbers, spaces, and punctuation marks. There is not a limit to how many personal statements applicants can create. Personal statements created outside the MyERAS application should be done in a plain text word processing application such as Notepad (for Windows ...
Your personal statement should be about you and no one else. Focus on your interests, your accomplishments and your path. This is your opportunity to be forthcoming about your achievements - by writing in detail about what you have done. 3. Be sure your personal statement clearly outlines your interest in the specialty.
Now, from experience in talking to different program directors and mentors, it's clear that the most important thing is that your ERAS personal statement is well organized, well written, with proper grammar, no red flags, and that it's only one page single-spaced. The standard ERAS personal statement length is typically 500-800 words ...
I started off with 750 words because google told me 750-850 fits on one ERAS page. I ended up having to cut it down to 550 to fit it to one ERAS page. I think 500-550 words is about right. 1 user. Aug 26, 2019. #9. I was complimented more than once about how my PS was only between half and 3/4 of a page.
Reddit iOS Reddit Android Reddit Premium About Reddit Advertise Blog Careers Press. ... Embed Go to medicalschool r/medicalschool • by kavakavaroo. Personal statement length on ERAS longer than Word . My PS is one page on word but on ERAS when I download it as a pdf, it goes a few sentences over (maybe 4-5). Is this okay? The advisor at my ...
The standard length of a residency personal statement is one page in ERAS, which equals anywhere from 500-800 words. Challenge yourself to be as clear and concise as possible. Show restraint and get your points across clearly and effectively in a short amount of space. ... If the first draft of your personal statement is longer than one page ...
Any program fine tuning their application process down to word limits and 1 page vs 1.25 pages has the most free time of any program to have ever existed. I wouldn't necessarily say that it can only hurt. My personal statement was brought up on every interview by every interviewer.
How big of a deal is it if my ERAS personal statement is longer than a page? Mine is 1.5 pages. I really like it as is and don't want to change it. Thread starter deleted1016251; ... Facebook X (Twitter) Reddit Pinterest Tumblr WhatsApp E-mail Share Link. Next unread thread Similar threads. G. Is residency really better than M3/4? genessis42 ...
With only 800 words or less…it is favorable to make them all your own. Do NOT plagiarize your personal statement. Length; Since one page in length in a Word Doc is not the same as what one page will equal one page in ERAS for personal statement formatting, the key is stick to 750-850 words for your ERAS/residency application personal statement.
That is approximately 650 words depending on how many paragraphs you have. Good luck! - Annette R, MD, MPH - USMLE Tutor and Residency Advisor at Med School Tutors. 1. Reply. Hi everyone! My original PS draft was around 700 words, but it seems I've got to shorten it to ~600 words to have it fit on one page in eras. Am I….
Jun 17, 2019. #2. If I recall correctly you can effectively submit a novella, but the informal rule is a single page. Remember that writing well is writing tight. If it helps, mine was a little over 4,000 characters and <700 words. 2 users. Jun 18, 2019. #3. Max should be 1 page typed in a word document.